Driftwood is an Americana/Folk-Rock band from Binghamton, New York that was formed in 2005. The group consists of Dan Forsyth (guitar, vocals), Joe Kollar (banjo, guitar, percussion, vocals), Claire Byrne (violin, vocals), Joey Arcuri (upright bass, vocals) and Sam Fishman (drums). Their music has been described variously as "fusing traditional Americana and with contemporary influences and timeless subject matter". [1]
Driftwood was formed by High School friends Dan Forsyth and Joe Kollar in 2006. [2] The original lineup consisted of Forsyth, Kollar, Jon Doll (Bass), Chris Duddy (Mandolin) and Mike Torres (Drums). In 2008, as Duddy and Torres were leaving the band, violinist Claire Byrne was introduced to Forsyth and Kollar. [3] Shortly thereafter, she joined. Original bassist Jonathan Doll left the band in late 2011 and Joey Arcuri joined Driftwood shortly after, completing the current and most definitive lineup.
The band has released five studio albums and two live albums.
Driftwood's debut album, the self-produced "Rally Day", was independently released in 2009. [4] They released their second studio effort, "A Rock & Roll Heart", under the Old Boy Records label in 2011. In late 2013, they released "Driftwood", a fan-funded, self-produced and independently released album. Recorded with Grammy-winning engineer Robby Hunter, [5] the album earned them spots on national radio shows including NPR's Mountain Stage [6] and Music City Roots. [7] The video for "The Sun's Going Down", a single cut from the album, was featured on CMT.com. [8] In 2014, they released their first live album, "Live at Grassroots 2014". It was recorded at the 2014 Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance. [9]
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band was composed of David Byrne, Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass), and Jerry Harrison. Described as "one of the most critically acclaimed groups of the '80s," Talking Heads helped to pioneer new wave music by combining elements of punk, art rock, funk, and world music with "an anxious yet clean-cut image"; they have been called "a properly postmodernist band."
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. including "Stray Cat Strut", "(She's) Sexy + 17", "Look at That Cadillac", "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring It Back Again", and "Rock This Town", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.
The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene in the mid-1980s. Led by vocalists/guitarists/songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 1980s and 1990s, such as Uncle Tupelo, the Gear Daddies and the Honeydogs. They have released eleven studio albums, with and without Olson, including five on the American Recordings label. After going on hiatus from 2005 to 2009, the 1995 lineup of the band reunited and released the album Mockingbird Time in September 2011; Olson left the band for the second time after the tour to promote the album. After another hiatus in 2013, the 1997 lineup led by Louris reunited to play shows in 2014 to support the reissue of three albums originally released between 1997 and 2003. Since then, the band has continued to tour and record, releasing the albums Live at The Belly Up in 2015; Paging Mr. Proust, co-produced by Peter Buck, in 2016; Back Roads and Abandoned Motels in 2018; and XOXO in 2020.
Lucinda Gayl Williams is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, Ramblin' on My Mind (1979) and Happy Woman Blues (1980), in a traditional country and blues style that received critical praise but little public or radio attention. In 1988, she released her third album, Lucinda Williams, to widespread critical acclaim. Regarded as "an Americana classic", the album also features "Passionate Kisses", a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter for her 1992 album Come On Come On, which garnered Williams her first Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1994. Known for working slowly, Williams released her fourth album, Sweet Old World, four years later in 1992. Sweet Old World was met with further critical acclaim and was voted the 11th best album of 1992 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of prominent music critics. Robert Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it 6th on his own year-end list, later writing that the album as well as Lucinda Williams were "gorgeous, flawless, brilliant".
Nickel Creek is an American bluegrass band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), and siblings Sara Watkins (fiddle) and Sean Watkins (guitar). Formed in 1989 in Southern California, they released six albums between 1993 and 2006. The band broke out in 2000 with a platinum-selling self-titled album produced by Alison Krauss, earning a number of Grammy and CMA nominations.
Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is seen as responses to the perceived excesses of the dominant psychedelic and the developing progressive rock. Because roots music (Americana) is often used to mean folk and world musical forms, roots rock is sometimes used in a broad sense to describe any rock music that incorporates elements of this music.
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Cash.
Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, Remedy, released in 2014, won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. The group's music has been called old-time, folk, and alternative country. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs.
Lucinda Williams is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, released in 1988, by Rough Trade Records.
Let's Live for Today is the second studio album by the American rock band the Grass Roots, released in July 1967 by Dunhill Records. A new group was brought in for this album which included Creed Bratton, Rick Coonce, Warren Entner and Rob Grill. It features their first top-ten hit by the same name, "Let's Live for Today". The bulk of the compositions are by group creators Sloan and Barri, but the new group was allowed to compose four songs and was given some input in the studio instrumentation. The other A and B side singles released were "Depressed Feeling", "Things I Should Have Said" b/w "Tip of My Tongue", and "Wake Up, Wake Up" b/w "No Exit". The album charted at No. 75.
Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors is an Americana band from Memphis and East Nashville in Tennessee, United States. The band was formed in 2005 by Drew Holcomb. The other band members are Nathan Dugger and Rich Brinsfield (bass). Holcomb's wife, Ellie Holcomb, who had been a member of the band since 2005, eventually stopped touring with the band to take care of their first child EmmyLou in 2012 and then later began pursuing a solo artist career.
The Black Lillies are an Americana band from Knoxville, Tennessee that was founded in early 2009 by Cruz Contreras. They toured actively from 2009 until their last show on New Year's Eve 2019. Their lineup for their 2018 Stranger to Me studio album included Cruz Contreras on lead vocals, guitar, and keys, Sam Quinn on bass and vocals, Bowman Townsend on drums, and Dustin Schaefer on electric guitar and vocals.
The Waybacks are an American four-piece band based in the San Francisco Bay area of California. Their style has been alternately described as Americana, Progressive bluegrass, rock-n-roll, folk, and acoustic mayhem. They described themselves as a "power trio with a fiddler" in an interview with NPR.
Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a solo artist for Hollywood Records.
Blackberry Smoke is an American country rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2000. The lineup consists of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Charlie Starr, lead/rhythm guitarist Paul Jackson, bassist Richard Turner and keyboardist Brandon Still. Richard's brother Brit Turner was the band's co-founder and drummer before his death in March 2024. Drumming duties have been covered during the bands tours since late 2023 by Atlanta drummer Kent Aberle. In 2018, they added touring members, guitarist Benji Shanks and percussionist Preston Holcomb, with Holcomb retiring from touring in the Spring of 2024. They have released eight studio albums, two live albums and five extended plays.
Brandy Lynn Clark is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Musgraves. She debuted as an artist in her own right in 2013 with her album 12 Stories and has released four additional studio albums. Clark is a sixteen-time Grammy Award nominee, including the 2015 Best New Artist award, and won the Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year as a co-writer on "Follow Your Arrow". In 2023, Clark and frequent collaborator Shane McAnally wrote the music and lyrics for the musical Shucked, earning a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Original Score.
Parker Yancey McCollum is an American country singer-songwriter based in Texas. The owner of PYM Music, he released his first single and EP in 2013; his debut album, The Limestone Kid, was released on February 24, 2015. The Austin Chronicle gave the release 3.5/5 stars, writing that "it's too early to declare The Limestone Kid debut of the year, but it's already one to beat", and comparing McCollum's music to Charlie Robison's. McCollum and his backing band announced a 2015 tour of Texas in support of the album, performing at events such as RedGorilla Music Fest. McCollum released the EP Probably Wrong: Session One on July 7, 2017, and followed it with Probably Wrong: Session Two on September 8, 2017. The full Probably Wrong album was released on November 10, 2017. His major-label debut album, Gold Chain Cowboy, was released July 30, 2021.
Midland is an American country music group formed in 2014 in Dripping Springs, Texas. The group members are Mark Wystrach, Jess Carson, and Cameron Duddy. Through Big Machine Records, the band has released two EPs, their self-titled EP and The Last Resort. They have released four studio albums, On the Rocks, Let It Roll, The Last Resort: Greetings From and Barely Blue, which have accounted for seven charted singles on the Billboard country chart: "Drinkin' Problem", Burn Out", "Make a Little", "Mr. Lonely", "Cheatin' Songs", "Sunrise Tells the Story" and "Longneck Way to Go". Midland's musical style is known as neotraditional country.
Christian Lopez is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Martinsburg, West Virginia. He was also the front man and guitarist of the Christian Lopez Band. Beyond Lopez, band members as of 2023 include Dan Gallagher on bass, and Joey Antico on drums.
Cameron Thomas Duddy is an American music video director and musician with over 9 billion views across his work. As a director, he is known for his work with Bruno Mars, OneRepublic, and Fifth Harmony. Most notably, Cameron directed the video for "Uptown Funk", winning an EMA, VMA, and topping charts as the 3rd most viewed video on YouTube. He is the bass guitarist in the band Midland.